Natural Resource Conflicts in Nigeria: SFCG Presents A Blueprint of Peace to Bridge Nigeria’s Farmer‑Herder Divide.
By Raymond Enoch
In a bold turn from the usual narratives of discord and despair, the peacebuilding organization Search for Common Ground has unveiled a new roadmap showing that empathy, creativity, and simple human connection may hold the key to resolving one of Nigeria’s most enduring and deadly tensions.
The NGO, working primarily across Adamawa and Taraba states, reveals in its latest report that cultural exchange programmes—mixing storytelling, football matches, music, dance, and theatre—are not merely feel‑good initiatives, but powerful catalysts for trust and cohesion between farming and pastoralist communities. These are the same communities long locked in cycles of land disputes, violence, and suspicion that have cost the nation dearly: more than 4,000 lives and an estimated US $13 billion annually.
Behind the data lies a sobering reality: climate change is fueling a fierce scramble over dwindling resources. Irregular rains, shrinking fertile land, and parched grazing routes have sparked recurrent violence, crop raids, and mounting mistrust. Yet, amid this, the NGO’s research reveals a remarkable turnaround: a striking 96 percent of community members surveyed reported improved relations over the past year, and 60 percent now feel increased access to conflict‑prevention systems.
Francis Sala‑Diakanda, Regional Director for West Africa at Search for Common Ground, captures this shift with urgency and compassion: “Climate change is not just disrupting seasons, it’s destabilizing communities. As land dries up and tensions rise, we must act urgently to mediate conflict and reimagine how people live together.” He adds poignantly: “Peace is not a passive hope but a shared responsibility built in the spaces where herders and farmers dance together, play together, and recognize each other’s humanity.”
At the heart of these transformations are stories of unexpected compassion and grassroots leadership. Take Boniface Nakulmide, a subsistence farmer and father of four. He describes the once‑routine clashes over trespassing cattle as deeply personal, but acknowledges that things have changed. “Search taught us to look out for signs of trouble and address them before conflicts could escalate,” he says. “I used to see herders as my enemies. Now, I realize they are my partners. My farm has benefited from the manure they give me … I’m known now as the ‘peacemaker!’”
Likewise, herder Hauwa Musa from Libbo ward, Shelleng LGA, has embraced a new path. Rather than dictate solutions, she chose to listen: “I’m not here to impose solutions, but to listen, to learn, and to work with them … Peace starts with small steps—talking to each other, understanding the other side, working together to find solutions.” Together with community figures—imams, pastors, village elders—these individuals are bolstering trust and responding swiftly to early signals of discord.
The report’s author, Dr Babatunde David, reiterates the wider lessons: “Trust in local authorities, inclusive resource management, and social cohesion are all key factors in preventing violent farmer‑herder conflicts. It is reassuring to see positive impacts from the programmes in reducing violence and strengthening local peace structures.”
Search for Common Ground now urges policymakers and development partners to amplify these culturally rooted interventions. Their recommendation: expand cultural exchanges, institutionalize regular farmer‑herder dialogues, and launch community‑led surveillance programs to curtail crop theft and diffuse tensions before they erupt.
With Nigeria at a crossroads—its heartland strained by climate shocks and resource competition—this novel blueprint spotlights hope over hostility, shared humanity over hardened stereotypes. It suggests tangible pathways from tragedy to coexistence, not through mandates, but through music, movement, theatre, conversation—and, ultimately, trust.
